Back Rub? The brands that changed their names.

On page one of 'The Bumper Book Of Branding' (which doesn't exist), we're told that a successful brand starts with a successful name. Y'know, something memorable, something that resonates with the audience. Crack the name and half the battle is won. However, as the world turns, tastes and attitudes change. Even the most respected brand name can find itself out of favour. Which is when the painful decision is made to have a rethink. So, without further ado, here are the brands which took the plunge and changed their names:

Kentucky Fried Chicken
I must admit, in my head this palace of grease and spice is still known by its original, southerly handle. But its not. Instead we have the initials 'KFC'. It's all down to the 'fried' apparently. It was suggesting to diners that those chunks of battered chicken might make you ... er ... porky. Eat too many, and they still will. But at least the name on the bucket won't remind you of the fact.

Google
Oh yes. Those masters of the internet didn't always refer to their planet-conquering search engine by the G-word. In the early days, the system was called 'Back Rub'. Seriously, 'Back Rub'. What Larry Page was thinking is anybody's guess (although perhaps we can imagine), but pretty quickly it became apparent the phrase 'I'm just going to back-rub that', sounded a bit creepy. Although 'I'm Googling' doesn't really solve the problem.

"How about a refreshing can of Lithiated Lemon Lime Soda?"

Yahoo!
It seems the early days of search engines were full of wonderful technology and terrible brand names. For instance, while the Google guys were wrestling with their massage monicker, Yahoo! had already ditched the snappy title 'Jerry’s Guide to the World Wide Web'. The 'Jerry' being Jerry Yang. Again, it's hard to imagine anyone saying "I'll just look that up on Jerry’s Guide to the World Wide Web" (or on Yahoo! come to that). So the sound a cowboy makes when his horse is going very fast was used as a substitute. Poor Jerry.

7-Up
Feeling thirsty? How about a refreshing can of 'Lithiated Lemon Lime Soda'? Not likely. Sounds like something they use to clean the engines on the Starship Enterprise. Funnily enough, the fizzy pop was pretty successful under this name - even though it contained the drug lithium citrate. It's just that folk forgot the words part way through their order. So, out came the weird pharmaceuticals and in came 7-Up. And a load of schoolboy gags about Snow White.

Sugar Smacks
If there's one thing Kellogg's know about, it's cereals. From 'Special K' to 'Frosties', they really have the whole bowl-of-flakes-for-breakfast caper covered. But they don't get everything right. If there's two things people know to be bad for you, it's loads of sugar (one word down) and hard drugs (and there goes the other). Of course, this product was named and launched in a more innocent age, when sugary stuff was appealing and smack meant - well okay, a sharp slap. Oddly, the first change saw the product become 'Smacks', which is even worse. Then 'Honey Smacks', which still exist in the USA. They word 'honey' obviously tempers the whole drug thing - or so Kellogg's imagine. 'Special K' has its own issues.

Ayds
Oh. Oh dear. This was a case of terrible timing. The notion of low-fat snacks was rather original in the excessive eighties, and the manufacturers of Ayds were probably on to something. At first sales were strong, but then a new and dreadful disease made its way into the headlines. It wasn't spelt the same way, but that hardly mattered. Incredibly, the firm behind the product stood its ground, believing its customers wouldn't be put off. They were. So in came a new name: 'Diet Ayds'. Maybe you can see the fundamental error in that thinking.

Snickers
Yeah, yeah - we all know about Snickers. And I think we've just about recovered from the shock now.

Magnus Shaw is a copywriter, blogger and consultant

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